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Battalion
Vintage paperback
139 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1965
4 people want to read
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December 29, 2022
Jess Walling and Steve Jackson fought together in World War 1 as young soldiers. in 1944, they are back in France, fighting the Germans once again. Jess is now a general, given command of a special strike battalion tasked to capture the heavily defended port of Brest. Steve is a sergeant and the best non-com in the unit.
Admist the combat, Jess and Steve deal with woman-trouble. Steve falls for a young French woman and suddenly finds himself more worried about getting killed than he had ever been before. Jess encounters another French woman with whom he'd had an affair decades earlier. He learns he might have a son by her and that the son might be a Nazi collaborator.
The character arcs are a little contrived, but they do add a little depth to the otherwise stock characters. And the author does a great job about making us care about the fates of the supporting characters--not all of whom survive.
Also, the combat sequences are quite good and often excellent. Through Jess, we get an effective examination of making difficult command decisions. Through Steve, we are put on the front lines, destroying German strongpoints one-by-one.
"Battalion" is a quick, fun read.
Admist the combat, Jess and Steve deal with woman-trouble. Steve falls for a young French woman and suddenly finds himself more worried about getting killed than he had ever been before. Jess encounters another French woman with whom he'd had an affair decades earlier. He learns he might have a son by her and that the son might be a Nazi collaborator.
The character arcs are a little contrived, but they do add a little depth to the otherwise stock characters. And the author does a great job about making us care about the fates of the supporting characters--not all of whom survive.
Also, the combat sequences are quite good and often excellent. Through Jess, we get an effective examination of making difficult command decisions. Through Steve, we are put on the front lines, destroying German strongpoints one-by-one.
"Battalion" is a quick, fun read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review